Chapter 1044 New Perception

The sword maid felt her world view being refreshed once again.

And it was her master who personally replaced it.

It was not until this moment that she truly realized the vast difference between her previous master, Yuan Zhenxing, the Second Sword of Qian, and the Sword Saint of Jin in front of her.

It's not to say that the Second Sword wasn't powerful; he definitely was. But the first was beyond what could be described as merely "powerful."

Originally, the sword maid thought that if her master wasn't so foolish and hadn't stupidly broken the ice on the Bian River, he wouldn't have been ordered to be shot to death by Zheng Fan.

In a one-on-one fight, even if he couldn't beat Baili Jian or the Sword Saint, he could at least lose gracefully.

However, when the Sword Saint drew a sword from between his eyebrows, equivalent to extracting his own ninth-grade swordsman cultivation, she suddenly realized what level her current master had reached.

"Master…"

"It's only because you just advanced and are only at the ninth grade that I can extract it. If your realm is higher, or if your foundation is more solid, I'll be helpless."

"Master, what technique did you just use?"

"In fact, everything starts simple and becomes complex, but after reaching a certain level, it begins to simplify again. Some principles and insights, even if I tell you now, you won't understand, and it might even lead you astray. The consequences of trying to run before you learn to walk are often not good."

"Just tell me, Master. I know my limits."

"Then I'll tell you, and you just listen?"

"Okay, Master."

"Back when the Jin Kingdom still existed, I entered the third-grade realm. When I fought Tian Wujing, the Marquis of Jingnan, in the suburbs of the capital, in my eyes, swordsmanship only had three forms:

One: Drawing the sword;

One: Striking with the sword;

One: Sheathing the sword."

The Sword Saint reached out and broke a dead branch from a nearby tree, gesturing as he continued,

"I thought at the time that the essence of all swordsmanship in the world was just these three forms, and all the myriad variations were extensions of them.

Three forms, beginning, development, and conclusion, have a beginning and an end, containing ultimate truth.

Drawing the sword is about the sword energy slowly approaching, entering my mind; striking with the sword is about the sword energy being released, breaking through floods and opening waterfalls; sheathing the sword is about the sword energy flowing back, cycling endlessly, continuously.

After fighting Tian Wujing, I lost because Tian Wujing was more ruthless than me, more decisive than me. What I thought and pursued was too harmonious and complete.

It was only after that defeat that I understood a truth: fighting and war are the same principle. The essence is to kill the opponent. This is fundamental; everything else is trivial.

So, the third form is no longer important. If your opponent is dead, whether you sheathe your sword or not is up to you. Furthermore, thinking about retreat before attacking puts you at a disadvantage in terms of momentum and intent."

The Sword Saint reached out and patted the sword maid's head, continuing,

"Before Xuehai Pass, I held the flag for Zheng Fan. At that time, Zheng Fan told me that if I killed the wild man general named Grim, the might of the wild man's siege could be directly erased by half.

When I followed Zheng Fan to the front line and saw that Grim actually had a Jin face, I was naturally furious.

At that time, I had lost my home, my country was destroyed, and everything I did ended up in a mess. Frankly speaking, I was uncomfortable, with a sense of recklessness.

So I thought, killing Grim would be an explanation to myself and to the Jin Kingdom.

In that battle, I abandoned the second form: striking with the sword.

Because whether the sword was in hand or not no longer mattered much. The so-called sword was no longer a tangible object.

When I forcibly opened the second grade, it wasn't actually me controlling the sword.

Instead, I drew down a force from the darkness to wield the sword on my behalf, which is why I was able to kill Grim in an instant.

When your sword no longer cares about being drawn or not, the so-called distance and length are equivalent to losing their constraints on you."

The Sword Saint took the sword maid to the door of her home again, saying:

"As for extracting your cultivation as sword energy earlier, that was drawing the sword. The sword is one, and one encompasses all things. Drawing the sword, why does it have to be a sword?

My sword can be all laws and all things; all laws and all things can be my sword."

"Master, it sounds very simple."

"The Qian scholars' imperial examinations are just about those few books, but the barrier of becoming a scholar can stop many people for a lifetime."

"Yes, Master, I understand."

"Forget it then, and continue to build your foundation. The sword is not drawn, but when it is drawn, it sings."

"By the way, Master, have you recovered now?"

"I have recovered, but it's not quite a recovery."

"Then what exactly is it…"

"Ultimately, we swordsmen are far inferior to martial artists in terms of physical strength. My realm has broken through, and my state of mind has been sublimated, but this body is still somewhat tiring to support for a while.

The aura is there, but no matter how great the aura is, it is now just a rootless duckweed. If you ask if I can fight… I don't know myself."

"Don't know?"

"Because ordinary clowns can't enter the Marquis's mansion. Zheng Fan is providing for me, not wanting me to guard the gate for him.

As for those who dare to break into the Marquis's mansion, I can still scare them, but if the other party is determined to come in and fight to the death, I'm still unable to do so.

I am now the same as you. You are still young, and the road ahead is long, so it is best to take it step by step.

I want to take good care of this body, and I can't rush it. Slowly adjust, slowly recover. Perhaps, I can go further. If I rush, hurry, and rush, the hidden dangers will be too great.

You should go back and rest now. Rest for a few days, and when you feel better, come back to me to practice swords."

"Yes, Master."

After separating from the Sword Saint, the sword maid entered the Marquis's mansion but didn't find Fan Li, who had entered earlier. She guessed he had gone to the kitchen to find something to eat.

The sword maid went straight to the backyard, and from afar, she heard the laughter of children.

Pushing the door open, she saw the Little Marquis standing there. The Little Marquis could already walk on his own, wearing a red cotton-padded jacket and a tiger-head hat, looking very adorable and cute.

A round stone was on the ground. The Little Marquis walked over and kicked it, and the stone rolled away. After a while, it rolled back again.

"Come, let Auntie hold you."

The sword maid walked over and hugged the Little Marquis.

In the past, after practicing swordsmanship with her master, she would come over to see the child.

The Little Marquis seemed to be quite friendly to this naturally gifted sword prodigy, taking the initiative to open his arms and pat the sword maid on the back.

He probably meant to pat her shoulder, but he was too short to reach, so he had to settle for second best.

A cloud of black mist appeared, revealing the face of an infant.

The sword maid was not surprised by this. The Magic Pill wasn't very fond of her, but it wouldn't object whenever the sword maid came to play with the Little Marquis.

Because this time was an exception, it had exhausted too much earlier, so it was left behind by its master. Usually, as long as its old man went out, he would definitely bring it along.

Therefore, to avoid Little Tian Tian getting bored when it wasn't around, having another playmate wasn't bad.

After holding the child, the sword maid was still a little weak, so she sat on the ground, watching the Magic Pill and Little Tian Tian continue to kick the ball, which was the Magic Pill's original stone.

The two children were having a great time.

Occasionally, the "ball" would roll to the sword maid's side, and she would throw it back.

She didn't know how long she watched.

The sword maid actually fell asleep while watching.

Little Tian Tian noticed and took the initiative to stop kicking the ball, pointing to the sword maid sleeping there,

"Umm… sleep… sleep…"

The Magic Pill controlled its original stone, lifting the sword maid from below and then letting her float, placing her in the cradle.

The cradle was still big, but the sword maid was already a young girl, so it was obviously too small. Her two arms and two legs were exposed outside the cradle, which looked very interesting.

But she must have been traveling for too long, and in addition, her cultivation had just been extracted, so the sword maid slept very deeply.

Little Tian Tian tiptoed out of the room, and the Magic Pill followed behind him.

After the two children left the room, they came to the courtyard together.

There was a slide and a swing in the small courtyard. After Little Tian Tian grew up and could walk on his own, Zheng Fan had specially asked Xue San to make some children's toys for him.

Little Tian Tian climbed onto the slide, but didn't slide down. Instead, he sat on top.

The moonlight shone, revealing the Magic Pill's figure sitting next to Little Tian Tian.

Little Tian Tian reached out, but because he was wearing too many clothes, it was a little difficult to lift his arm.

"Umm… stars… stars…"

The Magic Pill just sat next to him, not wanting to look at the stars, but silently accompanying Little Tian Tian to prevent him from falling off the slide.

"Umm… stars… stars… falling…"

Seeing Little Tian Tian getting more and more excited,

The Magic Pill silently raised its head, looking up at the sky.

The weather was very good tonight, so the sky was full of stars.

One star was very bright,

And,

It was getting brighter and brighter,

Until finally, it drew a long tail and fell down.

"………” Magic Pill.

…

Next door,

Da Hu was sitting in the living room practicing calligraphy seriously by candlelight, and the woman, who was accustomed to frugality, was making insoles by the light of her son's calligraphy practice.

The Sword Saint was sitting in the small courtyard chopping firewood with a small axe. Originally, the woman didn't want him to do these things. The woman worked in the workshop during the day and was actually quite strong. She was very skilled at chopping firewood and carrying water.

But the Sword Saint insisted on doing something, on the grounds that his body needed to move around.

After chopping some firewood,

The Sword Saint silently picked up a piece of firewood that had just been split, looking at the grain on it, lost in thought.

Then,

He laughed to himself.

In fact, there was one sentence he didn't say to his apprentice tonight, which was that his three forms were related to Tian Wujing, Grim, and this small courtyard;

But in fact, all three were related to Zheng Fan.

Zheng Fan clearly didn't know swordsmanship and was a martial artist who played with knives,

But he was deeply influenced and enlightened by him in swordsmanship.

Perhaps,

This is the impermanence of the world, understanding the truth for thousands of years.

Just like the grain of the firewood in his hand, before it was split open, no one knew how it would go inside.

It was also like the stars in the sky, how many stars shine today and fade away tomorrow.

With this thought,

The Sword Saint raised his head,

Looking at the sky,

Then his gaze froze.

This,

The stars actually really fell!

————

Thank you to Liren Gongju for becoming the 114th Alliance Master of *The Descent of Magic*!

The transition chapter should be coming to an end soon, and I will try to make it more exciting next.

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Good night.